Tanks were used in Liverpool to control rioting by trade unions and communists

In other images the towering HMS Valiant – one of the most formidable battleships of its time – can be seen moored in the Mersey, Liverpool, as-well-as newly invented tanks on the streets deployed against British trade unionist and Communist crowds.

The black and white images transport us back in time to when post-First World War fury sparked revolution across Britain, which saw up to half-a-million workers striking at any given time, and because police were also on strike at times, the Armed Forces had to be bought in to restore order.

It is not known how many people died as a result of the fighting.

The book is entitled 1919 Britain’s Year of Revolution by Simon Webb, and is published by Pen and Sword History.

“1919 was a year of revolution across much of Europe and this spread to Britain,” said author Mr Webb.

“The First World War had just ended and both Russia and Germany had seen their governments overthrown in revolutions.

MEDIADRUM

In 1919 the sense of revolution spread from Europe to Britain

“The basic premise of [the book] is that social unrest combined with army mutinies and widespread strikes, meant there was a real danger that law and order would break down completely.